CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Just days after coming back from a 1-3 deficit to top No. 30 Florida State, the ninth-ranked Duke women’s tennis team concluded it’s Florida road trip Sunday, falling to No. 10 Miami, 4-0, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Since being limited to just five players on April 5, the Blue Devils have tallied a 1-3 record, dropping the team to 14-6 on the season, and 5-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play.

“Miami played a good clean match against us today,” said head coach Jamie Ashworth. “I thought we got a little passive after losing the doubles point and we just couldn't get up in any of the singles matches. They are too good of a team to get behind like we did. We did a good job trying to recover and fight back but against a team as talented as they are we can't get down like we did.”

In doubles action, the Blue Devils dropped the doubles point for the second consecutive match after senior Mary Clayton and junior Hanna Mar were unable to slow Clementina Riobueno and Monique Albuquerque on court one. Clayton and Mar broke serve to jump out to an early 3-1 lead, but could not maintain their momentum, eventually falling 8-5.

With the Hurricanes taking the match on court one, and Duke forfeiting the match on court three, Miami secured the doubles point. In the second position, the tandem of sophomore Annie Mulholland and junior Marianne Jodoin were down 4-7 to Stephanie Wagner and Melissa Bolivar when the point was clinched.

The Hurricanes carried the momentum into singles, taking early leads on four of the five courts. Senior Nicole Lipp fell to Deborah Suarez on court five, while No. 23 Mar dropped a hard fought match to No. 79 Wagner. Mar, a native of Burr Ridge, Ill., now owns an 8-6 singles record against nationally ranked opponents and falls to 7-5 overall on the dual match season.

Clayton, who was tabbed at No. 110 in the most recent ITA poll, fell behind 0-2 in her match against No. 81 Kelsey Laurente, but rallied when she broke serve to 2-3. Despite the comeback, the recent Duke Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee was unable to stop Laurente in the opening set, falling 6-3. In the second set, Clayton held a 5-4 lead when the match was clinched.

After claiming 21 consecutive singles matches and tallying a perfect 16-0 singles record in dual matches, Jodoin was moved into the third position for the first time this season. Jodoin opened the match by taking an early 2-0 lead against No. 121 Riobueno, but dropped the next three to find herself down 2-3. Riobueno took the first set, 6-4, and held a 4-3 advantage when the match was clinched for the Hurricanes. In the fourth position, Mulholland was behind Bolivar, 4-6, 0-4, when the match was decided.

The Blue Devils continue their five-match road trip Wednesday, April 17 as they travel to Chapel Hill to take on top-ranked North Carolina at 3 p.m. The two teams met earlier this season in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship, when the Tar Heels topped the Blue Devils, 4-0.

“This week we are going to really take a good look at how we start matches and will be ready for a good effort on Wednesday against North Carolina.” Ashworth said.